WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.980 If you get a copy of the scriptures with you, 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:04.120 we'll be starting a new little mini -series tonight. 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:07.179 It'll be in the Old Testament in the book of 00:00:07.179 --> 00:00:11.460 Haggai. So it's Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:13.699 Malachi, right there towards right before the 00:00:13.699 --> 00:00:18.100 New Testament starts. Interesting book, not a 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:20.359 book that if you do a little bit of research 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:23.100 is preached on very often. One of the least preached 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:25.239 books in the United States, so it seemed very 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:29.320 interesting to dig in a little bit. Just two 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:32.060 chapters, I think we'll be here for four or five 00:00:32.060 --> 00:00:34.299 Sunday nights, so not too terribly long, but 00:00:34.299 --> 00:00:36.420 we'll take our time and move through it well. 00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:40.299 Haggai is a minor prophet with contemporaries 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:43.240 such as Zechariah and Malachi, and we know very 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:45.240 little personally about the prophet, which is 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:47.840 interesting. He is only mentioned here, obviously, 00:00:47.899 --> 00:00:49.920 in this book, penned, and then in the book of 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:53.700 Ezra as well. What is interesting in the book 00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:56.780 of Haggai is that there are very specific dates. 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:58.799 A lot of times when we get into some of the minor 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:01.179 prophet books, we know a little bit about the 00:01:01.179 --> 00:01:03.299 prophet themselves, but the dates are a little 00:01:03.299 --> 00:01:06.420 open -ended. Haggai does not fit that particular 00:01:06.420 --> 00:01:10.200 model. The dates he gives are very, very specific. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:12.599 So we know exactly when he ministered, not just 00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:14.920 the year, but even the day and the month for 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:18.219 every single thing that happens. He began to 00:01:18.219 --> 00:01:20.819 minister in the second year of King Darius, so 00:01:20.819 --> 00:01:23.099 520 B .C. If you're taking notes, we'll lay a 00:01:23.099 --> 00:01:25.400 bit of historical context before we get started. 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:27.840 But you might say, what was the state of the 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:30.700 nation at this time? Why do we have this book 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:33.560 and how did we get here? You may remember that 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.500 it was prophesied for quite a while that Judah 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:39.739 would be carried off into exile. Ultimately, 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:42.200 that began to happen by the nation Babylon, King 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:46.060 Nebuchadnezzar. Israel had to, or Judah, had 00:01:46.060 --> 00:01:48.959 to endure 70 years of exile because they had 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.159 repeatedly chased after false gods and idols. 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:55.280 And we would normally get that date as 586 B 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:57.060 .C., but really that was the destruction of the 00:01:57.060 --> 00:01:58.760 temple. There were three different waves in which 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:00.840 they were carried off. The first of which was 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:03.680 605 B .C., which was when Daniel and some of 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:05.819 his contemporaries were taken off to Babylon. 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:07.719 So there's three different waves of that, and 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:09.110 that's where we would start that story. 70 -year 00:02:09.110 --> 00:02:11.710 countdown. When the Babylonians, though, were 00:02:11.710 --> 00:02:15.009 conquered by Persia, in fact, at that time it 00:02:15.009 --> 00:02:18.229 would be King Cyrus that conquered Babylon, there 00:02:18.229 --> 00:02:20.590 was a decree issued that the Jews were allowed 00:02:20.590 --> 00:02:24.030 to return back to their homeland and then begin 00:02:24.030 --> 00:02:26.729 to rebuild their temple. The challenge was, as 00:02:26.729 --> 00:02:28.990 soon as they came back, they immediately faced 00:02:28.990 --> 00:02:31.030 opposition and they abandoned the project. It 00:02:31.030 --> 00:02:33.930 lay dormant for about 17 or 18 years. Insert 00:02:33.930 --> 00:02:37.900 Haggai. Haggai's first prophecy is almost 20 00:02:37.900 --> 00:02:40.699 years to the date after these first exiles had 00:02:40.699 --> 00:02:45.180 returned back. And it was not what they had hoped. 00:02:45.259 --> 00:02:47.699 They had came back from being in exile, very 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:49.400 expectant. They were going to rebuild the temple. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:50.919 Things were going to go their way. They were 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:54.439 going back home. And they had settled into a 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:57.000 very uncomfortable status quo where they were 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:01.080 just barely eking out an existence. Things were 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:03.479 not good. We'll read that in the text tonight. 00:03:03.659 --> 00:03:05.560 And into this situation, when things are just 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:08.719 not good, it's not what they've hoped for, God 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:11.840 then sends his prophet with a message of, new 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:14.099 hope for His people, a message that will speak 00:03:14.099 --> 00:03:18.370 hope to us as well. We'll see in this book that 00:03:18.370 --> 00:03:20.229 there are four different sermons delivered by 00:03:20.229 --> 00:03:23.210 Haggai. And he's so specific in dates, we know 00:03:23.210 --> 00:03:25.210 they were from August to December in the year 00:03:25.210 --> 00:03:28.310 520 BC. So he did not prophesy for a terribly 00:03:28.310 --> 00:03:32.409 long time, but it was very effective. A lot of 00:03:32.409 --> 00:03:34.669 times when we get into these minor prophet books, 00:03:34.849 --> 00:03:36.909 there is cries of judgment. There is a lot of 00:03:36.909 --> 00:03:39.069 foretelling, a lot of prophecy, but not a lot 00:03:39.069 --> 00:03:42.590 of reaction on the part of the recipients. Here 00:03:42.590 --> 00:03:47.120 in Haggai, there is a lot of reaction. of the 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:50.319 Word of God, a response to the Word of God. The 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:52.539 people are repentant. They then begin to rebuild. 00:03:52.860 --> 00:03:55.860 So there is a lot of good exchange here, if you 00:03:55.860 --> 00:03:57.979 will. And although it is the second shortest 00:03:57.979 --> 00:04:01.240 book in the entire Old Testament, it is rich 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:03.080 and it's profitable teaching for the church today. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:06.500 So it's very applicable to us. We will see the 00:04:06.500 --> 00:04:10.259 Lord call upon this unfaithful remnant, His covenant 00:04:10.259 --> 00:04:13.099 people, to repent, to rebuild the temple. And 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:15.039 Haggai ultimately anticipates the day of the 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:19.490 Lord. The day in which God has said in the person 00:04:19.490 --> 00:04:23.050 of His Son that He will fulfill all the promises 00:04:23.050 --> 00:04:26.149 that He has made to His people. So, let's get 00:04:26.149 --> 00:04:28.670 into verses 1 and 2 tonight of chapter 1, the 00:04:28.670 --> 00:04:58.300 book of Haggai. It says, So the first thing we 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:01.449 see is that it was not a good time. for the people. 00:05:01.730 --> 00:05:05.569 King Cyrus, who allowed them to first go back 00:05:05.569 --> 00:05:08.129 home, and not only go back home, but issued a 00:05:08.129 --> 00:05:09.689 decree that they should rebuild their temple 00:05:09.689 --> 00:05:12.209 and was going to supply some funding for that. 00:05:12.949 --> 00:05:16.290 died after about a short eight -year reign. His 00:05:16.290 --> 00:05:17.910 son took over for a while. There was sort of 00:05:17.910 --> 00:05:20.829 a coup. And then we see Darius come up, who was 00:05:20.829 --> 00:05:24.930 a general there. And in 522, he becomes king 00:05:24.930 --> 00:05:27.769 over this Persian empire. And in 520 BC, Haggai 00:05:27.769 --> 00:05:30.589 begins then to speak on God's behalf. And we 00:05:30.589 --> 00:05:33.129 see a couple people listed here. First of all, 00:05:33.170 --> 00:05:37.490 Zerubbabel would deal with civil matters. Joshua 00:05:37.490 --> 00:05:39.589 is going to deal with religious matters as far 00:05:39.589 --> 00:05:42.540 as the Persian government was concerned. And 00:05:42.540 --> 00:05:45.459 my wife, Kay Lynn, was at Cedarville. She had 00:05:45.459 --> 00:05:47.139 an Old Testament professor there whose name was 00:05:47.139 --> 00:05:50.879 Dr. Chris Miller. And he was a wonderful man 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:53.240 of God, a wonderful professor, and had a way 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:56.600 with words. It was very captivating as he taught. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:58.800 And one of the classes he taught very well was 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:01.990 a survey of the Old Testament. And his lectures 00:06:01.990 --> 00:06:04.550 were recorded at that time, like on the internet 00:06:04.550 --> 00:06:07.310 somewhere, for students to reference. And she 00:06:07.310 --> 00:06:09.389 thought they would be such a help to me that 00:06:09.389 --> 00:06:12.509 she burned every single Old Testament lecture, 00:06:12.670 --> 00:06:16.689 and there was a lot of them, onto CDs. And I 00:06:16.689 --> 00:06:19.250 had a 45 -minute drive to work, and I would listen 00:06:19.250 --> 00:06:20.569 to them on the way there and on the way back, 00:06:20.569 --> 00:06:22.449 because it was so captivating. And I was so hungry 00:06:22.449 --> 00:06:25.009 at that time, early on in my ministry. I listened 00:06:25.009 --> 00:06:26.959 to them so much, they quit playing. They'd get 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:29.720 scratched and they'd quit working. But one thing 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:31.379 that Dr. Miller said that I'll never forget, 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:32.800 and my kids have been saying it for two weeks 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:34.899 now in the car, is that when he would talk about 00:06:34.899 --> 00:06:36.540 the minor prophets, specifically when he got 00:06:36.540 --> 00:06:38.639 into Haggai, he would always say Zerubbabel. 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:40.120 And every time he would say Zerubbabel, he would 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:42.639 always say, who picked up the rubble? And it 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:44.100 was just a very interesting way to tie him to 00:06:44.100 --> 00:06:46.519 the rebuilding of that temple. And it obviously 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:48.459 worked. It was very catchy because I still remember 00:06:48.459 --> 00:06:53.079 it now almost 20 years later. But who was Zerubbabel 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:54.699 and why was he important? Why do we see that 00:06:54.699 --> 00:06:57.579 name right here in the first part of this book? 00:06:57.819 --> 00:07:01.920 Well, Zerubbabel was a grandson of King Jehoiachin, 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:04.759 who was a descendant about 20 generations worth 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:07.600 of David. Now, that's very important. Even though 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:10.459 Zerubbabel was a governor, he was not a king, 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:14.720 he was a true Davidic... And as he served as 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:17.000 governor in this rebuilding effort, as we would 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:20.240 see, under the Persian Empire, we see a continuing 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:23.060 of the line of David, despite the monarchy's 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:25.500 apparent collapse when they had been in exile. 00:07:25.740 --> 00:07:29.060 This preserved the Davidic covenant, and it pointed 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:32.160 toward a coming Messiah, that God had not broken 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:34.000 his promise, a sermon that he had kept them, 00:07:34.139 --> 00:07:37.519 even through this exile that Judah had to go 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:39.980 through. And we see Zerubbabel... His name is 00:07:39.980 --> 00:07:42.699 mentioned in the genealogies in Matthew 1 and 00:07:42.699 --> 00:07:44.959 Luke 3. They both include him, and it ties this 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:48.740 important link and lineage between David and 00:07:48.740 --> 00:07:53.040 Jesus Christ. Now, a charge is quickly laid against 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:56.980 the inhabitants of Judah here in verse 2 that 00:07:56.980 --> 00:08:00.639 now had not been the time to rebuild the Lord's 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:03.120 house. And certainly no one disputed the necessity 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:06.310 of needing to rebuild, but they had... Enemies 00:08:06.310 --> 00:08:09.350 come on them immediately. 17, 18 years had went 00:08:09.350 --> 00:08:11.470 by. They wanted to build the temple, but they 00:08:11.470 --> 00:08:13.709 just hadn't got to it. And it wasn't a good time. 00:08:13.709 --> 00:08:15.910 It wasn't a good time. And as often happens, 00:08:15.990 --> 00:08:18.529 as we tend to put things off, they can sometimes 00:08:18.529 --> 00:08:21.029 get put off for a long time. And we look around 00:08:21.029 --> 00:08:22.910 a couple years went by like, oh, yeah, I was 00:08:22.910 --> 00:08:24.889 going to get to that project. And you just never 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:28.490 got to it. And, you know, they were difficult 00:08:28.490 --> 00:08:31.509 times. We'll give them that. The remnant was 00:08:31.509 --> 00:08:34.009 small. that had returned. There was a general 00:08:34.009 --> 00:08:36.889 lack of funds. Just keeping food on their tables 00:08:36.889 --> 00:08:39.889 had been very difficult. But look at what Haggai 00:08:39.889 --> 00:08:43.250 says in verses 3, 4, and 5. Then the word of 00:08:43.250 --> 00:08:45.210 the Lord came by Haggai. So here's the first 00:08:45.210 --> 00:08:48.629 prophecy. Saying, is it time for you yourselves 00:08:48.629 --> 00:08:52.149 to dwell in your paneled houses and this temple, 00:08:52.309 --> 00:08:55.149 the temple of the Lord, to lie in ruins? Now 00:08:55.149 --> 00:08:57.610 therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider 00:08:57.610 --> 00:09:01.169 your ways. Now, The Lord's response to their 00:09:01.169 --> 00:09:04.309 words was, if now was such a bad time to rebuild 00:09:04.309 --> 00:09:07.370 God's house, why was it the time for the people 00:09:07.370 --> 00:09:10.470 to dwell in paneled houses of their own? And 00:09:10.470 --> 00:09:13.090 that word paneled is very interesting. That doesn't 00:09:13.090 --> 00:09:15.350 just jump out at us, but let's talk about it. 00:09:15.409 --> 00:09:17.549 It's going to make a lot more sense. That doesn't 00:09:17.549 --> 00:09:19.669 just mean that their houses were ornately decorated. 00:09:20.110 --> 00:09:23.529 That is a word that was only used a handful of 00:09:23.529 --> 00:09:25.450 times, and every time it was used in the Old 00:09:25.450 --> 00:09:28.149 Testament, it was to describe the beauty of Solomon's 00:09:28.149 --> 00:09:30.529 temple as it was being built. I mean, splendor 00:09:30.529 --> 00:09:34.250 beyond compare. There had been so much effort 00:09:34.250 --> 00:09:38.009 put into their houses of their own, but now it 00:09:38.009 --> 00:09:40.570 wasn't a good time to rebuild the Lord's house. 00:09:41.190 --> 00:09:44.269 And Haggai's point is this, that the people had 00:09:44.269 --> 00:09:46.559 been quite happy to put precisely... amount of 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:49.200 time and what resources they could put together 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:51.840 into their own houses while they claimed they 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:54.620 had no time, no effort, no money to restore the 00:09:54.620 --> 00:09:59.440 Lord's house. And during difficult times... It 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:03.100 can be very easy to retreat or withdraw from 00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:06.019 God or from serving others. That is what our 00:10:06.019 --> 00:10:08.179 flesh wants. In our flesh, we do retreat. We 00:10:08.179 --> 00:10:11.659 do withdraw. We flee. But we cannot allow the 00:10:11.659 --> 00:10:14.639 difficulties of life to become an excuse for 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:19.100 centering our existence on ourselves. Church, 00:10:19.139 --> 00:10:22.600 we were created for so much more than that. We 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:26.039 were created for community. We were created to 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:30.710 serve one another. isolated, we were created 00:10:30.710 --> 00:10:33.049 for so much more. What is the chief in a man? 00:10:33.190 --> 00:10:37.029 To glorify God, not to pursue our own ambitions 00:10:37.029 --> 00:10:39.850 and build up our own houses. Verse 6, Haggai 00:10:39.850 --> 00:10:42.830 continues. He says, you have sown much, but you 00:10:42.830 --> 00:10:46.009 bring in little. You eat, but you don't have 00:10:46.009 --> 00:10:49.470 enough. You drink, but you're not filled with 00:10:49.470 --> 00:10:53.250 drink. You clothe yourself, but no one is warm. 00:10:53.870 --> 00:10:56.929 And he who earns wages, earns wages to put into 00:10:56.929 --> 00:11:04.250 a bag with holes. Feel the tension in verse 6. 00:11:05.789 --> 00:11:08.409 You've planted much, but you've harvested very 00:11:08.409 --> 00:11:10.970 little. You've ate. They didn't starve to death, 00:11:11.149 --> 00:11:13.629 but they were still hungry. You had something 00:11:13.629 --> 00:11:15.710 to drink, but it wasn't enough to fully satisfy. 00:11:16.210 --> 00:11:18.230 You've had some clothing. They weren't naked, 00:11:18.409 --> 00:11:21.610 but yet they weren't warm. And they've earned 00:11:21.610 --> 00:11:23.269 some wages, but they might as well have just 00:11:23.269 --> 00:11:25.970 dropped them into a bag with holes in it. Their 00:11:25.970 --> 00:11:29.090 strategy had been counterproductive up until 00:11:29.090 --> 00:11:32.370 this point. They had been busy to pursue their 00:11:32.370 --> 00:11:34.830 own goals, their own ambitions, but yet they 00:11:34.830 --> 00:11:37.250 hadn't accomplished them. They had sown abundantly, 00:11:37.269 --> 00:11:40.230 but they had not reaped in what they would hope. 00:11:40.289 --> 00:11:41.889 Everyone had something to wear, but not enough 00:11:41.889 --> 00:11:45.169 to keep out the cold. And what they were getting 00:11:45.169 --> 00:11:47.409 out of life was not equal to what their inputs 00:11:47.409 --> 00:11:51.539 were. in effort and resource. So they did not 00:11:51.539 --> 00:11:53.580 experience, they had not experienced since the 00:11:53.580 --> 00:11:56.220 return of his exile, almost 20 years, the fullness 00:11:56.220 --> 00:11:59.820 of God's blessing. The pleasure that they sought 00:11:59.820 --> 00:12:02.639 seemed elusive, something that they just could 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:06.120 not get a hold of. Why was life this way? I think 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:08.559 it's important to say it was certainly not an 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:12.559 issue of God's lack of power to bless them. It 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:15.539 was God who had been with this exact people as 00:12:15.539 --> 00:12:17.980 they wandered through the wilderness for 40 years 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:21.379 and their shoes never wore out from off their 00:12:21.379 --> 00:12:23.659 feet. They never went hungry and never had any 00:12:23.659 --> 00:12:25.759 lack. It wasn't the Lord's inability to bless 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:28.360 them. It was their inability to begin to look 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:30.340 to the Lord and to build His house and to put 00:12:30.340 --> 00:12:32.600 their time and their efforts there instead of 00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:35.179 focusing on their own homes and their own things. 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:39.100 Verse 7 and 8. Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider 00:12:39.100 --> 00:12:42.399 your ways. Go up to the mountains and bring wood 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:44.980 and build a temple, that I may take pleasure 00:12:44.980 --> 00:12:48.860 in it and be glorified, says the Lord. Now, we're 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:51.360 going to go to verse 15 tonight. But immediately 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:54.899 in verse 7, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Consider 00:12:54.899 --> 00:12:57.340 your ways. To me, that just jumps off the page. 00:12:57.620 --> 00:13:00.059 For God to speak to His people through this prophet 00:13:00.059 --> 00:13:02.980 and say, Consider your ways. That's a hard stop. 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:05.259 You know, the Lord's saying, pay attention. You 00:13:05.259 --> 00:13:07.379 know, let's get it together. You've been over 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:10.139 here and I need you, you know, right here. They 00:13:10.139 --> 00:13:12.440 had put their own interests before the interests 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:14.460 of God. And that was a very dangerous ground. 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:17.220 And the Lord was calling them to task here. They 00:13:17.220 --> 00:13:20.330 were reaping the results. of what they had done. 00:13:20.409 --> 00:13:22.629 They were running faster and faster, but they 00:13:22.629 --> 00:13:24.610 weren't getting ahead. They weren't actually 00:13:24.610 --> 00:13:28.169 getting anywhere. And that sounds like the lives 00:13:28.169 --> 00:13:31.629 that so many are living right now. Racing through 00:13:31.629 --> 00:13:35.370 life at a breakneck pace, yet never quite catching 00:13:35.370 --> 00:13:37.830 the elusiveness that always seems like it's out 00:13:37.830 --> 00:13:40.870 ahead. Here in America and in the Western world, 00:13:41.009 --> 00:13:43.889 we go harder than we've ever went before. Our 00:13:43.889 --> 00:13:48.639 flesh reaches and yearns, but cannot be Fully 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:52.679 satisfied. But you know, not only did God challenge 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:55.919 them to consider their ways, he also gave them 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:58.659 the solution. He said, stop what you've been 00:13:58.659 --> 00:14:01.440 doing. You went up into the hill country to get 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:03.820 timber to build your own houses. You went up 00:14:03.820 --> 00:14:05.299 in the hill country to get the resources that 00:14:05.299 --> 00:14:07.720 you needed to panel your house. He said, go again. 00:14:08.259 --> 00:14:12.299 Get the wood. Rebuild my temple so that I might 00:14:12.299 --> 00:14:16.360 be... Isn't that wonderful that God doesn't just 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:18.600 rebuke them, but He does rebuke them because 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:21.299 they needed it. Praise God when we step out, 00:14:21.419 --> 00:14:23.779 when we have sinned, God has indwelled us believers 00:14:23.779 --> 00:14:26.539 with His Holy Spirit, and He convicts us. Praise 00:14:26.539 --> 00:14:28.500 God for that, because we need that conviction. 00:14:28.779 --> 00:14:31.100 And it shouldn't just drive us to pursue our 00:14:31.100 --> 00:14:33.740 own ambitions, but to repent once we've been 00:14:33.740 --> 00:14:36.340 convicted of our sin. But not only does God convict 00:14:36.340 --> 00:14:38.539 them and rebuke them, He gives them the solution. 00:14:39.019 --> 00:14:42.500 Isn't that amazing? He said, stop this, do this. 00:14:43.149 --> 00:14:46.610 Look at verses 9, 10, 11, and 12. Haggai says, 00:14:46.809 --> 00:14:49.850 You have looked for much, but indeed it came 00:14:49.850 --> 00:14:52.129 to little, and when you brought it home it blew 00:14:52.129 --> 00:14:56.289 away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my 00:14:56.289 --> 00:14:59.570 house it is in ruins, while every one of you 00:14:59.570 --> 00:15:02.330 runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens 00:15:02.330 --> 00:15:07.309 above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds 00:15:07.309 --> 00:15:10.090 its fruit. For I called for a drought on the 00:15:10.090 --> 00:15:12.090 land, and on the mountains, and on the grain. 00:15:12.570 --> 00:15:15.230 and on the new wine and the oil, on whatever 00:15:15.230 --> 00:15:17.470 the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, 00:15:17.830 --> 00:15:22.330 and on all the labor of your hands. So this returning 00:15:22.330 --> 00:15:25.370 remnant had mixed up their priorities, and as 00:15:25.370 --> 00:15:28.210 a result, they had not experienced a hand of 00:15:28.210 --> 00:15:31.049 blessing from God. The Lord had not blessed the 00:15:31.049 --> 00:15:33.909 effort that they had put forth. The Lord asked 00:15:33.909 --> 00:15:36.389 them to abandon their excuses. It wasn't a good 00:15:36.389 --> 00:15:38.570 time. It wasn't a good time. Not now. Oh, we're 00:15:38.570 --> 00:15:40.629 being oppressed. Oh, we don't have enough time. 00:15:40.690 --> 00:15:43.360 We don't have enough money. They produced so 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.419 many excuses as to why they could not begin rebuilding 00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:49.399 the temple. And the thing about excuses is they 00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:52.580 can sideline us. We can make up an excuse for 00:15:52.580 --> 00:15:54.879 almost anything to sort of spin out in our own 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:57.200 minds why we can't do this, why we can't fulfill 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:01.039 that obligation, why we can't go there. And we 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:03.879 can tell ourselves a lot of things. But the Lord 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:07.340 tells them, you've already done this for yourself. 00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:11.620 Now do it for me. Make my house your priority, 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:15.399 not your house your priority. He's saying that 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:18.600 they should turn and labor and take a place that 00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:21.899 is lying in desolate ruin and turn it into a 00:16:21.899 --> 00:16:24.019 place that God might delight and that he might 00:16:24.019 --> 00:16:26.919 be glorified. And until their priorities were 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.639 reordered, until God's house was restored, they 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:33.299 could not expect. any of the Lord's blessing 00:16:33.299 --> 00:16:36.379 to produce fruit in their lives, their lands, 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:38.419 their families, all of these ways that they felt 00:16:38.419 --> 00:16:40.580 they had just not been getting out of life, what 00:16:40.580 --> 00:16:42.960 they had been putting in. Look at an immediate 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:46.000 response here in verse 12. Then Zerubbabel, the 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:49.379 son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadek, 00:16:49.379 --> 00:16:51.840 the high priest, with all the remnant of the 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:55.500 people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God 00:16:55.500 --> 00:16:59.000 and the words of Haggai the prophet. And as the 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.799 Lord their God had sent him, and the people feared 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:05.420 the presence of the Lord. So what is that verse 00:17:05.420 --> 00:17:08.160 saying? First of all, they heard the words of 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:12.019 the prophet. They were rebuked. They obeyed the 00:17:12.019 --> 00:17:14.819 voice of the Lord their God, the words that came 00:17:14.819 --> 00:17:17.799 through Haggai. And they all feared the presence 00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:20.680 of the Lord. So from the highest governor all 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:23.299 the way down to the lowest citizen, the entire 00:17:23.299 --> 00:17:25.480 remnant. It didn't say a pocket. It didn't say 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:28.920 half. It said all of them. All of this remnant 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:33.539 obeyed God's word, not just some, but they all 00:17:33.539 --> 00:17:36.160 heard it, and then they all obeyed it. I mean, 00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:39.220 that's a whole other step there. Haggai's preaching 00:17:39.220 --> 00:17:42.480 had an immediate and powerful effect on the hearts 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:45.579 of the people. They are sorrowful, they are then 00:17:45.579 --> 00:17:49.319 convicted, and then they become repentant. Why? 00:17:49.769 --> 00:17:52.970 Because they understood God's justice that had 00:17:52.970 --> 00:17:56.230 been poured out on them. The Word of God should 00:17:56.230 --> 00:18:00.789 have the same effect on us. As we sit under faithful 00:18:00.789 --> 00:18:03.890 preaching, as we hear God's Word opened and it 00:18:03.890 --> 00:18:07.150 is exposited, we should then, through that Word, 00:18:07.269 --> 00:18:10.509 consider our ways as we hear the Word of God 00:18:10.509 --> 00:18:13.309 preached. There should be areas in our lives 00:18:13.309 --> 00:18:16.309 that do not line up. With God's standard that 00:18:16.309 --> 00:18:18.069 should come out when we read God's word, when 00:18:18.069 --> 00:18:20.049 we hear it preached. Ian Duguid said this in 00:18:20.049 --> 00:18:22.849 his commentary. He said, which of us could truly 00:18:22.849 --> 00:18:26.390 say that we have always sought first God's kingdom? 00:18:26.869 --> 00:18:29.710 And who could say that he has always pursued 00:18:29.710 --> 00:18:33.109 his righteousness with our whole heart? None 00:18:33.109 --> 00:18:35.890 of us could say that. Even on our best days, 00:18:36.049 --> 00:18:38.970 the best 15 minutes of our life, we're not there. 00:18:40.290 --> 00:18:42.890 We are all guilty at points in our lives, in 00:18:42.890 --> 00:18:45.089 various seasons of our lives, of building our 00:18:45.089 --> 00:18:49.690 own houses while neglecting the Lord's. And when 00:18:49.690 --> 00:18:51.630 we are convicted of that, that is not the time 00:18:51.630 --> 00:18:53.230 to shrug it off and say, well, I'm doing the 00:18:53.230 --> 00:18:55.190 best I can. It's not the time to shrug it off 00:18:55.190 --> 00:18:56.890 and say, I'm just going to keep going my way. 00:18:56.990 --> 00:18:59.829 It is a time, just like the people of Judah here, 00:19:00.029 --> 00:19:03.990 to be sorrowful and repentant and pour ourselves 00:19:03.990 --> 00:19:07.400 out in front of a holy God and say, God, This 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:09.279 started out as a hobby to me. This started out 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:10.980 as something that was fun to me, and now it's 00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:13.140 got out of hand. My priorities are mixed up. 00:19:13.140 --> 00:19:15.339 I'm now pouring way too much into this. It was 00:19:15.339 --> 00:19:18.920 a good thing, but my heart's became an idol factory. 00:19:19.380 --> 00:19:21.200 It's all I can do. It's all I can think about. 00:19:21.660 --> 00:19:24.000 And we get mixed up like that. No one sets out 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:26.259 to go do things all the time that take them away 00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:28.059 from God's house. It happens little by little. 00:19:29.579 --> 00:19:31.980 But if they're God's children, the world will 00:19:31.980 --> 00:19:35.880 convict them. It will convict us. Praise God 00:19:35.880 --> 00:19:38.190 for that. But when we are convicted, we should 00:19:38.190 --> 00:19:41.410 be sorrowful, absolutely, but repentant. And 00:19:41.410 --> 00:19:44.029 go to the Lord in that way. Verse 13. This is 00:19:44.029 --> 00:19:46.309 beautiful. Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, 00:19:46.410 --> 00:19:48.170 spoke the Lord's message to the people saying, 00:19:48.349 --> 00:19:52.390 I am with you, says the Lord. So at the conclusion 00:19:52.390 --> 00:19:54.750 of verse 12, we don't want to lose this. It said 00:19:54.750 --> 00:19:58.509 that the people feared the Lord. Now that's a 00:19:58.509 --> 00:20:00.809 good response because God is pure and God is 00:20:00.809 --> 00:20:03.930 holy and there is a healthy, reverent fear of 00:20:03.930 --> 00:20:07.750 the Lord. However, In their fear of him, they 00:20:07.750 --> 00:20:10.730 corrected their vision of the Lord as well. And 00:20:10.730 --> 00:20:13.509 Haggai announces comforting news to them as the 00:20:13.509 --> 00:20:16.450 Lord says, I am with you. As the people have 00:20:16.450 --> 00:20:18.690 become sorrowful and repentant and they are turning 00:20:18.690 --> 00:20:20.589 back to God, what do they hear from the prophet? 00:20:20.670 --> 00:20:22.450 It's beautiful that the Lord had already turned 00:20:22.450 --> 00:20:25.089 towards them. That as they were repentant, God 00:20:25.089 --> 00:20:27.990 turns towards them is also that in spite of their 00:20:27.990 --> 00:20:31.630 sin, when they repented, there was restoration. 00:20:32.569 --> 00:20:35.589 This is good news for us as well, church. The 00:20:35.589 --> 00:20:38.349 Lord is not a harsh taskmaster, is what His Word 00:20:38.349 --> 00:20:42.190 tells us. He is not a God that just sits upon 00:20:42.190 --> 00:20:44.970 His throne, looking down on us, waiting for us 00:20:44.970 --> 00:20:47.569 to slip up in some way or step out of line in 00:20:47.569 --> 00:20:49.329 some way so He can punish us severely. God does 00:20:49.329 --> 00:20:53.309 not do that. But God does confront our sin. And 00:20:53.309 --> 00:20:56.630 He confronts our sin so He can forgive us and 00:20:56.630 --> 00:21:00.710 show us grace and mercy when we are repentant. 00:21:01.160 --> 00:21:03.279 Praise God that he is not a harsh taskmaster, 00:21:03.559 --> 00:21:07.200 as his word would say. Verses 14 and 15, we see 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:10.480 here action, not just words. It's one thing, 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:13.460 you know, sometimes we are sorrowful over our 00:21:13.460 --> 00:21:15.619 sin. There are several times we are repentant 00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:18.920 over our sin, but it can stop at the words. And 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:21.220 we don't really follow through with action. Verse 00:21:21.220 --> 00:21:24.259 14 and 15, so the Lord stirred up, this was not 00:21:24.259 --> 00:21:26.579 an accident, the Lord stirred up the spirit of 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:29.819 Zerubbabel. the son of Shealtiel, governor of 00:21:29.819 --> 00:21:32.759 Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, 00:21:32.900 --> 00:21:35.380 the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant 00:21:35.380 --> 00:21:37.819 of the people. And they came and they worked 00:21:37.819 --> 00:21:39.740 on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:43.380 didn't say a God, their God, on the 24th day 00:21:43.380 --> 00:21:45.599 of the sixth month in the second year of King 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:48.279 Darius. Now, we see the sovereignty of God on 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:51.640 full display here. It was the Lord, L -O -R -D. 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:55.640 Yahweh, the spirit of Yahweh who stirred up these 00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:58.500 powerful men, one over civil matters, one over 00:21:58.500 --> 00:22:01.440 religious matters, to begin this restoration 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:05.279 work on the temple. After their repentance, after 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:07.519 their restoration, it was the Lord who stirs 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:09.960 the spirits of the people. And they come and 00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:11.819 they begin preparation. They go up in the hill 00:22:11.819 --> 00:22:13.700 country. They get the timber. They get the materials. 00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:16.200 They do all those laborious tasks. They bring 00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:19.599 all these things down. And when they hear the 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:23.890 word of God, It pricked at their hearts. That 00:22:23.890 --> 00:22:26.029 should be the response of each and every believer 00:22:26.029 --> 00:22:28.549 who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Word of 00:22:28.549 --> 00:22:31.750 God is used for rebuke and for encouragement. 00:22:31.910 --> 00:22:34.890 It is used to convict us of our sin, but also 00:22:34.890 --> 00:22:38.779 to encourage us and give us joy. We should never 00:22:38.779 --> 00:22:41.700 just be consumers of godly content. When the 00:22:41.700 --> 00:22:44.920 Word is preached, there should be a response. 00:22:45.500 --> 00:22:47.579 Certainly, as we hear God's Word preached, as 00:22:47.579 --> 00:22:49.519 we read it on a daily basis and take in Christian 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:52.380 content, we should sorrow over our sin. Our sin 00:22:52.380 --> 00:22:54.779 is grievous to God. It is heinous in His sight. 00:22:54.859 --> 00:22:58.319 And it should break us at times. Because as much 00:22:58.319 --> 00:23:00.859 as we try not to, we are going to sin because 00:23:00.859 --> 00:23:03.359 we are in this body of... flesh. We're in this 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:05.339 natural man. MacArthur said it best. It was our 00:23:05.339 --> 00:23:07.900 unredeemed humanness, and we will be in it till 00:23:07.900 --> 00:23:10.940 the day we leave this world and are united with 00:23:10.940 --> 00:23:13.259 the Lord and experience ultimate glorification. 00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:16.319 While we are here, our sin should grieve us. 00:23:16.339 --> 00:23:18.839 Some of the greatest preachers, commentators 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:21.119 that were in the Reformation and from then until 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:24.140 now were broken constantly over their sin. The 00:23:24.140 --> 00:23:26.740 prayers of the Puritans, many were broken over 00:23:26.740 --> 00:23:29.220 their sin. They understood how just grievous 00:23:29.220 --> 00:23:31.519 it was and the separation between them and God, 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:34.930 and yet it drove them to repentance. It should 00:23:34.930 --> 00:23:38.349 do the same for us. But what about these men? 00:23:38.490 --> 00:23:40.690 Did they just go and begin to rebuild because 00:23:40.690 --> 00:23:42.690 it seemed like the right thing to do? No. They 00:23:42.690 --> 00:23:44.869 were broken over their sin. They were repentant. 00:23:44.890 --> 00:23:48.210 It's not sheer willpower, but it said the Lord 00:23:48.210 --> 00:23:50.710 stirred up this spirit within them that God had 00:23:50.710 --> 00:23:53.049 moved their hearts in this way. When we obey 00:23:53.049 --> 00:23:56.150 the Lord, it is because He has given us the desire 00:23:56.150 --> 00:23:59.150 and the strength to do so. It's not because we 00:23:59.150 --> 00:24:01.230 got up and thought it would be a good idea. It 00:24:01.230 --> 00:24:03.769 is God who is sovereign over the sanctification 00:24:03.769 --> 00:24:07.769 of his people. And we see that here. You say, 00:24:07.789 --> 00:24:11.549 okay, this is really good. What about us? We 00:24:11.549 --> 00:24:13.670 are not much different than Haggai's original 00:24:13.670 --> 00:24:16.769 audience because we too, at times, have been 00:24:16.769 --> 00:24:19.009 distracted by building our own houses and not 00:24:19.009 --> 00:24:22.710 being focused on building the Lord's house. Our 00:24:22.710 --> 00:24:27.009 world moves so fast. And it comes with its own 00:24:27.009 --> 00:24:30.630 unique set of challenges. It is increasingly 00:24:30.630 --> 00:24:33.349 harder for parents raising children to keep them 00:24:33.349 --> 00:24:36.009 involved in doing kid things and still making 00:24:36.009 --> 00:24:38.609 church their ultimate priority. It is harder 00:24:38.609 --> 00:24:41.490 now than it was in generations past to work a 00:24:41.490 --> 00:24:43.150 good job that doesn't require a lot of travel. 00:24:43.309 --> 00:24:45.549 It doesn't require you to be away in the midweek 00:24:45.549 --> 00:24:49.230 and on the weekends. And things move very... 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:52.339 Quickly, in our flesh, we have a propensity to 00:24:52.339 --> 00:24:54.880 chase. You say, chase what? We want to chase 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:57.859 success. We chase wealth. But what is the problem? 00:24:57.960 --> 00:25:01.299 Those are unfulfilling masters. They sound good 00:25:01.299 --> 00:25:04.720 at the time, but they will always be elusive. 00:25:04.740 --> 00:25:06.940 It will never be enough. It's an unfulfilling 00:25:06.940 --> 00:25:09.339 master. What's the ultimate frustration of the 00:25:09.339 --> 00:25:11.420 hamster? He never reaches the top of the wheel. 00:25:11.769 --> 00:25:14.549 It just goes and goes and goes. Whatever satisfaction 00:25:14.549 --> 00:25:18.029 we do feel from anything like that is temporary 00:25:18.029 --> 00:25:21.210 and fleeting. What we will find is the paneled 00:25:21.210 --> 00:25:26.670 houses will never be enough. The pleasures are 00:25:26.670 --> 00:25:28.529 elusive. Paul said in the New Testament that 00:25:28.529 --> 00:25:31.930 all we have gained will eventually be rust, rot, 00:25:32.190 --> 00:25:35.890 burned, or forgotten. Jesus said in Mark 8 36, 00:25:36.170 --> 00:25:38.250 what does it profit a man to gain the whole world 00:25:38.250 --> 00:25:43.950 if at the same time he loses his Soul. Our priorities 00:25:43.950 --> 00:25:45.930 matter. And they don't just matter in eternity. 00:25:46.289 --> 00:25:48.730 They matter right now. They matter no matter 00:25:48.730 --> 00:25:52.259 if we're 80. or raising young children. It does 00:25:52.259 --> 00:25:54.880 not matter. Our priorities matter now. And as 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:56.799 believers, our priorities, we are called out 00:25:56.799 --> 00:26:00.039 that they must align with Scripture. We cannot 00:26:00.039 --> 00:26:02.240 say and be justified in, well, in this season 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:03.799 of my life, I'm going to do this, and I'm going 00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:05.059 to do this, and I'm going to go out of town to 00:26:05.059 --> 00:26:06.420 work, and I'm going to make this money, and then 00:26:06.420 --> 00:26:08.440 I'm going to do this, and then I've got time 00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:09.980 to rebuild the Lord's house. Then I've got time 00:26:09.980 --> 00:26:12.119 to teach Sunday school and invest here. That's 00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:14.480 not what God's Word said. Our priorities matter 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:20.039 now, not for later. Even though Haggai finds 00:26:20.039 --> 00:26:22.900 these returned exiled Jews focusing on their 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:25.019 own homes, their own lives, their own priorities, 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:27.579 their own ambitions, he offers them another avenue. 00:26:27.700 --> 00:26:31.779 And the Lord does the same for me and you. We 00:26:31.779 --> 00:26:34.299 have that avenue to repent, to humble ourselves 00:26:34.299 --> 00:26:36.960 before God, to pour out our energy into building 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:40.539 God's house, as serving is the only true way 00:26:40.539 --> 00:26:45.109 of blessing. Jesus said again, In Mark, he said, 00:26:45.130 --> 00:26:47.589 but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 00:26:47.769 --> 00:26:52.009 and all these things will be added unto you. 00:26:52.130 --> 00:26:55.190 Now this is the type of thing that can and will 00:26:55.190 --> 00:26:59.289 lead to lasting fulfillment of our souls. God 00:26:59.289 --> 00:27:00.970 can bless his people in ways we never dreamed 00:27:00.970 --> 00:27:03.609 of. Every one of us probably has a story that 00:27:03.609 --> 00:27:07.450 at some time in our life, things were not looking 00:27:07.450 --> 00:27:10.089 so good. There was an expense, there was a bill, 00:27:10.230 --> 00:27:12.319 there was something going on. And the Lord provided 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:14.359 the means for that in a way that just seems almost 00:27:14.359 --> 00:27:20.140 extraordinary. But to put God first, to seek 00:27:20.140 --> 00:27:21.660 his righteousness, to build into his kingdom, 00:27:21.819 --> 00:27:24.119 the Lord cares for his children. We're not lost 00:27:24.119 --> 00:27:26.440 on him. Not only is he not a harsh taskmaster, 00:27:26.539 --> 00:27:28.539 the Lord loves his children. He meets their needs 00:27:28.539 --> 00:27:31.680 no matter how large or how small they are. If 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:33.950 we ate food today, praise God for that. He gave 00:27:33.950 --> 00:27:36.690 us enough to eat. So what about building God's 00:27:36.690 --> 00:27:38.710 house in our day? We can be rest assured that 00:27:38.710 --> 00:27:40.970 it will not be by our zeal alone. It will be 00:27:40.970 --> 00:27:43.109 by the zeal of Christ that we will build into 00:27:43.109 --> 00:27:45.190 the Lord's house. Just as it was the Lord's spirit 00:27:45.190 --> 00:27:47.849 that stirred up Zerubbabel and Joshua, we do 00:27:47.849 --> 00:27:50.750 not come and do any work here of ourself. It 00:27:50.750 --> 00:27:54.990 is Christ who will give us zeal to do that. Christ 00:27:54.990 --> 00:27:57.549 has already shown great zeal for his people. 00:27:58.220 --> 00:28:01.380 As much as Jesus cleansed the temple and He drove 00:28:01.380 --> 00:28:02.980 out the money changers, remember, He took the 00:28:02.980 --> 00:28:05.940 whip and did so. God would turn the whip on His 00:28:05.940 --> 00:28:11.200 very own Son as He took the punishment that our 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:14.460 sins deserved as He was on the cross. Our lack 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:17.890 of zeal was paid for on the cross. The gospel 00:28:17.890 --> 00:28:21.450 message of our sins was paid for by Jesus Christ, 00:28:21.529 --> 00:28:24.369 and His righteousness was imputed to us as it 00:28:24.369 --> 00:28:27.609 were our own, and that is the foundation on which 00:28:27.609 --> 00:28:31.349 God builds His church. God is the one who is 00:28:31.349 --> 00:28:34.299 building. His new temple, the church, by the 00:28:34.299 --> 00:28:36.619 means of His Holy Spirit. You say, how? Paul 00:28:36.619 --> 00:28:38.819 wrote about it in Ephesians chapter 2. Having 00:28:38.819 --> 00:28:40.759 been built on the foundation of the apostles 00:28:40.759 --> 00:28:42.960 and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:46.059 the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, 00:28:46.119 --> 00:28:48.859 being fitted together, grows into a holy temple 00:28:48.859 --> 00:28:52.279 in the Lord. And here you are, in whom you also 00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:54.680 are being built together for a dwelling place 00:28:54.680 --> 00:28:57.819 of God in the Spirit. Now, what this doesn't 00:28:57.819 --> 00:28:59.079 mean, it doesn't mean that we watch from the 00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:02.660 sidelines. Of course not. God's work is the foundation 00:29:02.660 --> 00:29:06.259 and encouragement for our work. It was because 00:29:06.259 --> 00:29:09.819 God roused the spirits of Haggai's hearers that 00:29:09.819 --> 00:29:11.880 they began to work with enthusiasm. And it is 00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:13.779 because God is at work in our earthly bodies 00:29:13.779 --> 00:29:17.000 by this Spirit, His Holy Spirit, that we are 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:20.400 called, motivated, and empowered to glorify God 00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:23.019 with... the bodies that he has given us. It is 00:29:23.019 --> 00:29:25.599 because God is committed to establishing his 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:28.579 kingdom in and through us that we are called 00:29:28.579 --> 00:29:31.259 to seek his kingdom first above all other things, 00:29:31.380 --> 00:29:33.539 above all other priorities, above all other things 00:29:33.539 --> 00:29:36.740 we could chase. We should be a people stirred 00:29:36.740 --> 00:29:41.839 by a holy zeal to love and build God's church. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:44.859 Think back to Haggai's heirs. They planted, but 00:29:44.859 --> 00:29:47.519 they didn't harvest much. They had clothes, but 00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:50.019 not enough to stay warm. What about the church? 00:29:50.490 --> 00:29:53.670 What promises has God made to us? God promised 00:29:53.670 --> 00:29:56.869 his children real food. And in Christ, he gave 00:29:56.869 --> 00:29:59.529 us the bread of life. In Christ, he gave us a 00:29:59.529 --> 00:30:03.009 fountain of living water. We are clothed in Christ's 00:30:03.009 --> 00:30:05.569 righteousness. And as opposed to those returning 00:30:05.569 --> 00:30:09.109 exiles, these things provide lasting satisfaction 00:30:09.109 --> 00:30:13.250 for our souls. Ain't do good again. Yet we do 00:30:13.250 --> 00:30:15.490 not receive the fullness of this promised blessing 00:30:15.490 --> 00:30:18.480 here and now. There is a feast that is yet to 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:21.519 come, a feast that will fully satisfy our soul 00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:25.920 with the richest affair. Church, it's the last 00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:29.480 thing. New Jerusalem awaits us. There are promises 00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:31.819 that God has made to his people. And in the present, 00:30:32.019 --> 00:30:35.160 right now, life is hard and it can be frustrating. 00:30:35.420 --> 00:30:37.779 And it was no less hard or frustrating to these 00:30:37.779 --> 00:30:39.839 returning exiles that we will read about here 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:43.049 in Haggai. We find ourselves struggling to be 00:30:43.049 --> 00:30:46.109 faithful in the midst of challenging life circumstances. 00:30:47.470 --> 00:30:49.569 But each week as we come to the Lord's table, 00:30:49.809 --> 00:30:55.390 we are reminded that we experience tokens of 00:30:55.390 --> 00:30:57.990 the promise that God has gave to his people. 00:30:58.049 --> 00:31:01.650 In just a morsel of bread and just a very small 00:31:01.650 --> 00:31:05.329 amount of juice in the cup, it is a constant 00:31:05.329 --> 00:31:08.769 reminder and it arouses our hunger. It should 00:31:08.769 --> 00:31:12.940 at least every week. to hunger for a day that 00:31:12.940 --> 00:31:17.799 from God we will be fully satisfied. When the 00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:22.099 construction of his new city will be complete 00:31:22.099 --> 00:31:26.220 and the Lord Jesus Christ will be united with 00:31:26.220 --> 00:31:32.019 his people forever. Amen. It's a good word. Interesting 00:31:32.019 --> 00:31:34.140 book that we'll get into a little deeper week 00:31:34.140 --> 00:31:37.000 by week, but the prophet Haggai, if you want 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:39.440 to read ahead, feel free. It's not a long book. 00:31:40.109 --> 00:31:42.049 Very interesting read. Haggai gives four different 00:31:42.049 --> 00:31:45.670 sermons to the people. And the first is a rebuke. 00:31:45.670 --> 00:31:48.089 But it's beautiful how they respond and are broken 00:31:48.089 --> 00:31:51.410 and then repentant over their sin. And certainly 00:31:51.410 --> 00:31:55.910 so much we can take out of that ourselves. All 00:31:55.910 --> 00:31:58.529 right. We will go ahead and dismiss from this 00:31:58.529 --> 00:32:00.829 part of the service. If you would stay, if you're 00:32:00.829 --> 00:32:02.069 a member of the church, we would ask that you 00:32:02.069 --> 00:32:05.509 stay. We'll have a short monthly business meeting. 00:32:06.029 --> 00:32:08.509 So if you're able to stand. we would invite you 00:32:08.509 --> 00:32:10.730 to do so. We'll have a benediction prayer, and 00:32:10.730 --> 00:32:14.390 we would ask our members stay for the business 00:32:14.390 --> 00:32:16.109 meeting. Brother Mike Thompson, do you care to 00:32:16.109 --> 00:32:17.190 have the benediction prayer?